The police arrived and took Dee away in an ambulance. Later they arrested her for manslaughter.
A lengthy emotional and soul-destroying trial ensued. It exposed Dee to a very corrupt and male-favoured system. Psychiatric evaluations deemed her fit for trial, but thankfully she was found not guilty by means of self-defence. The media called her the mouse that roared. The rapist’s family yelled daily abuse at her. After that, she withdrew from society, finding comfort in books. In movies. In gaming. Where people are essentially anonymous.
It took meeting a special guy to bring her out of her shell. To live life on the outside again.
Dee would always remember the stench of her attacker’s breath. A mixture of cheap bourbon and cannabis.
— 21 —
Thinking of her past gave Dee strength. She reached down inside herself and began to struggle as if her life depended on it. She scratched. She kicked. She ripped her fingernails over Missing Teeth’s face and bit into his hand.
“Hmmm… I like it when they fight.” He grinned down at her. “Hold the bitch’s legs down.”
Simon grabbed both her flailing legs in a vice-like grip. Together, the men managed to wrestle her onto the pallet.
She looked up into Missing Teeth’s eyes, silently pleading with him. Searching for some decency. Hoping to change his mind while looking into his eyes. Hoping to ease the evil in his soul. Anything to stop what was about to happen.
Dee didn’t hear the first gunshot. Missing Teeth’s head exploded, brains and skull splattering all over her. The sight of his lust-filled eyes seared into her memory. His body slumped, pinning her legs.
She heard the next couple of shots and saw Simon look down at the gaping holes in his chest. His lifeless body toppled over. Dee shuddered and pushed Missing Teeth’s body off her. She stood and stared down at his nearly headless body and she spat on him.
Asshole.
“You all right?”
Dee spun towards the source of the voice. A stocky, muscular man with a long wizard beard and white hair approached her. He was dressed in green cargo pants, a green shirt and a black combat vest filled with magazines and even a grenade or two.
“You all right?” he asked again.
“Y… Yeah, I think so.” Dee shook her head. Too many things were happening at once today. “Boss?”
“Sorry, what?”
“Boss. Sorry, I mean the kid?”
“He’ll be fine. He took a nasty blow to the head, though.”
“Thank you,” Dee said, kicking Missing Teeth again. “I’m Dee. I call the kid Boss.”
“You’re welcome. Ben. Ben Johns.” He glanced around, eyes alert. “We need to move, I don’t know how many of those creatures have been alerted by the gunshots.”
“At this time of day?”
“Yes,” Ben said. “Let’s grab the kid and go.”
“We’ve got a boat tied up down at the river. The Variants won’t come in the water.”
“Variants? You call them Variants too, huh?” A bemused look crossed Ben’s face.
Dee’s head snapped up at the distant sound of shrieks.
“Umm, yeah, ah. Boss had an old ham radio going and he talked to some Americans. They called them Variants.”
“Right. Well, the Variants, they are smart bastards, and fast. Why don’t you come back to my bunker? I’ve got food, water and medical supplies. It’s held them out for now.”
She searched Ben’s eyes and found honesty and kindness. She nodded, more to herself than to him. “All right, thank you.”
Ben and Dee grabbed an arm each and hauled Boss to his feet. He was coming to, but was still groggy. Ben led them to a 4x4 parked next to a red ute, his eyes constantly flicking around.
Dee could hear more shrieks but the Variants remained distant for now. If Ben felt any panic, he didn’t show it. Dee observed the way he moved. Fluid. Alert. Completely aware of his surroundings. Like he knew where everything was located. Exit points. Everything.
They pushed Boss onto the back seat and laid him down. Dee grabbed one of the fleece jackets they’d found and placed it under his head.
Ben eased them out of the farm driveway and onto the sealed road. He pointed the 4x4 east and picked up speed.
“Here, use these to clean some of that muck off you.” Ben handed Dee some tissues.
“Thanks.”
“I’m not far. About fifteen minutes.”
She nodded. She couldn’t figure it out. Why had Ben been there? She was more than grateful, of course. She looked down at the rifle sitting between them. It was black, but had a long, fat, extended barrel. It looked military. Not like the ones her dad used to use. Ben looked and acted like military. With shooting like that and the calm way he acted, she guessed he was ex-army.
“So. Look, thanks for saving us back there.”
“You’re welcome. I couldn’t stand by and let them do that. It’s not right. Even in these terrifying times, there are rules. Moral rules.” Ben glanced over, smiled, and stroked his long bushy beard.
Dee could see by the expression on the old man’s face that he was telling the truth. She decided she liked him already. Plus, he seemed really handy with a rifle. If she wanted any chance of finding Jack, she needed Ben. His expertise.
Till now she’d been extremely lucky, but luck will only get you so far. She knew she reacted well under pressure. A calmness would come over her as if time slowed down and she saw the way out. More than anything, she wanted to survive this. She wanted Jack back. To take them all to the valley, to start afresh.
“Ben?” Dee said, picking and brushing the last of the skull fragments off her chest and arms and trying not to gag.
“Yeah?”
“I’m curious. How did you know we were there?”
“I didn’t. But I knew they were. I’d been tracking their movements for a few days.”
Dee looked at Ben, startled. Tracking them? For a few days? Why? She opened her mouth to ask, but Ben slowed the 4x4 down and turned onto a tree-lined driveway, magnolia trees creating an avenue.
“We’re here,” he announced.
Dee looked down the drive and could see it curving up behind a small hill. As the 4x4 got closer to the hill, a house nestled into the leeward side came into view. It looked as though the walls were made of earth and she could barely make out the roof line. Wildflowers covered it.
Ben pulled up around the back, next to a large utility shed. This too blended into the surrounding countryside.
Ben and Dee half-dragged a semi-conscious Boss out of the 4x4. Ben indicated with a tilt of his head towards a side door. Entering the house, it struck Dee how warm and dry it was. And with the door closed behind them, the silence was complete.
Jack would love this house. It looked like a safe place, retreating a good ten metres or so into the hill.
Ben guided her and Boss past some shelves towards a couple of bunks in the back left-hand corner of the room. Dee struggled with the deadweight that was Boss. Pain shot up her arms and the muscles in her lower back started to cramp. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, watching the smooth concrete floor as sweat dripped off her forehead from the exertion. Once there, they gently laid Boss down.
“First aid and medical supplies are in here.” Ben pointed to a large medical cabinet on the wall. “I’m heading outside to lock up and set the sensors.”